Lamar forward denied NCAA eligibility

By Avi Zaleon

Published 3:33 pm, Thursday, February 13, 2014

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Lamar forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere watches as his teammates run through drills during practice Tuesday afternoon. The Jamaican-born basketball player has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA, but is trying to keep his skills honed in practice.
Photo taken Tuesday, 2/11/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Lamar forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere watches as his teammates run through drills during practice Tuesday afternoon. The Jamaican-born basketball player has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA, but is ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Lamar forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere shoots from the free throw line during practice Tuesday afternoon. The Jamaican-born basketball player has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA, but is trying to keep his skills honed in practice.
Photo taken Tuesday, 2/11/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Lamar forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere shoots from the free throw line during practice Tuesday afternoon. The Jamaican-born basketball player has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA, but is trying to keep ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Lamar forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere goes up for a shot during a scrimmage Tuesday afternoon. The Jamaican-born basketball player has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA, but is trying to keep his skills honed in practice.
Photo taken Tuesday, 2/11/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Lamar forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere goes up for a shot during a scrimmage Tuesday afternoon. The Jamaican-born basketball player has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA, but is trying to keep his ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Lamar forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere motions to a teammate during practice Tuesday afternoon. The Jamaican-born basketball player has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA, but is trying to keep his skills honed in practice.
Photo taken Tuesday, 2/11/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Lamar forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere motions to a teammate during practice Tuesday afternoon. The Jamaican-born basketball player has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA, but is trying to keep his ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

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Lamar forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere recovers a rebound during a practice scrimmage Tuesday afternoon. has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA. The Jamaican-born basketball player has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA, but is trying to keep his skills honed in practice.
Photo taken Tuesday, 2/11/14
Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX less

Lamar forward Tyran de Lattibeaudiere recovers a rebound during a practice scrimmage Tuesday afternoon. has been deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA. The Jamaican-born basketball player has been deemed ... more

Photo: Jake Daniels

Lamar forward denied NCAA eligibility

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Pat Knight has to speak about Tyran de Lattibeaudiere's play in hypotheticals.

"He's our best forward," Lamar coach Pat Knight said. "He would have started for us right off the bat."

The NCAA has deemed the junior forward from Jamacia ineligible to play this season.

It goes back to the MegaMart (a Jamacian wholesale chain) he worked at in Kingston, Jamaica.

After work, Lattibeaudiere and his co-workers would play basketball games against employees from other businesses. The players were unpaid and the league could be compared to a series of pick-up games.

The NCAA's issue is not whether the league was amateur or professional, but instead rooted in timing, said Lamar athletic director Jason Henderson, who worked with the NCAA on Lattibeaudiere's eligibility case.

"Tyran graduated a year later from his expected graduation date and that definitely affected things," Henderson said.

Lattibeaudiere, who turned 23 in January, retook his last year of high school. He is now being penalized because his participation on the MegaMart team occurred outside a one-year window following his initial expected graduation date.

"There's a one-year grace period from the year you're supposed to graduate with your high school class, in which you can be in competition, as long as amateur in nature, that doesn't count (against NCAA eligibility)," Henderson said. "Any time you compete in organized competition - even if amateur - after that, you're charged a season of eligibility at a four-year institution."

The eligibility requirements for junior colleges are less stringent, so Lattibeaudiere was able to play for Vincennes University in Indiana.

Lamar assistant coach Sherron Wilkerson, who recruited Lattibeaudiere, said Lamar received Lattibeaudiere's commitment to play for the Cardinals before the NCAA clearing process vetted him.

"From our perspective, he was no different than the Australian or European kids that come here," the Lamar assistant coach said (Lamar has a Swedish and Australian player on the team).

Henderson and Lamar argued that the amount of Jamaican games Lattibeaudiere played in, the "totality of circumstances" and the then-high school student's lack of knowledge of the NCAA rule should make him eligible.

"I probably spent close to 30 or 40 hours on this," Henderson said.

The lack of organization that made the Jamaican league amateur, also made the investigation difficult.

"They tried to track down the coach and he was missing," Knight said. "Tyran thought the guy got murdered."

The NCAA's deliberation process dragged on for months without a definite judgment.

"It was dangled like a carrot in front of him for three months," Knight said. " 'This week. We think we'll get you eligible this week. Oh, well maybe next week.' It would have been better just to tell us 'no' up front."

Several times a week, Knight watched his ineligible big man walk into Wilkerson's office for more questions. The NCAA kept requiring new information from Lattibeaudiere for its investigation.

"We said, just give him the last 10 games of the season, but they wouldn't do it," Knight said. "It's sad, the poor kid has no idea what he did wrong. If you go to that country it's not like leagues in Italy or Spain where it's a real program. I've seen them, they're pick-up games on an asphalt court."

The next step is for Lamar to try and salvage Lattibeaudiere's fourth and final year of eligibility.

If the NCAA's ruling holds, next season will be the forward's first and last year playing for Lamar. His four seasons would be broken down as one with the MegaMart team, two with Vincennes and then next season.

However, Wilkerson said that Lamar will appeal, which can happen at the end of next season, according to Henderson. If Lamar's appeal is granted, Lattibeaudiere will be eligible to play for the next two seasons, instead of one.

For now, Lattibeaudiere is restricted to practice and watching the Cardinals from the sidelines during games.

"It's hard to sit on the bench and watch because I know that we would have beat some of the teams we lost to if I was playing," he said.